Popular Woodworking 2006-06 № 155, страница 86

Great Woodshops

Craftsmanship Done Safely

Kelly Mehler's school refuses to sacrifice proper guarding when teaching proper woodworking.

\V Zoodworking teacher Kelly Mehler got W his start in the schooling business in an unusual way. His first teaching job was to instruct patients at a rehabilitation center in woodworking basics using simple machinery. While working there, he took classes in the wood technology program at the Ohio College of Applied Science, which helped cement his interest in the craft.

"I looked all over Cincinnati for someone to apprentice under," said Mehler, "but there was no one." Thus, in 1976 he and his wife, Teri, packed up and moved south to Berea, Ky., where Mehler began his pursuit of a degree in industrial arts at Berea College with the intention of teaching in a vocational school and making custom furniture during the summer. Instead of completing the program, he headed out on his own to make custom furniture, and he put the teaching on hold for a while.

He began his career as a custom-furniture maker in 1978, in a shop he converted from an old barn in Mt. Vernon, Ky. Before moving in his equipment, he first had to pour a concrete floor and cut in windows. "It turned out to be a good sized, efficient workshop," said Mehler, even if the air and heating left a bit to be desired. While he struggled to get the furniture business off the ground, Mehler spent a lot of time at juried craft fairs, which he used as a springboard to generate custom orders. He marketed a line of desk organizers, quilt racks and other items appropriate for the craft-fair market, but also took along one-off furniture pieces and his portfolio to show alongside the smaller items.

While the fair circuit was difficult, Mehler said there were many rewarding moments.

Kelly Mehler (left) works with John Tuohey, of Chevy Chase, MD, on a Shaker table. This was Tuohey's second visit to Mehler's school, and he plans to return during the 2006 season. "I love the shop setup here," says Tuohey. "And, his explanations are so lucid. If you can't get it from Kelly, you can't get it."

"You got to see you weren't the only one struggling. When you're by yourself, you think it's you, but spending time with other craftspeople helped me realize they were struggling, too," he said. But the most important lesson was in creating production-line items. "The repetition builds skills and at the same time presents the challenge to maintain the quality of each piece - that teaches you a lot," said Mehler. Eventually, through the contacts he made at

by Megan Fitzpatrick

Comments or questions? Contact Megan at 513-5312690 ext. 1348 or megan.fitzpatrick@fwpubs.com.

the fairs, the demand for Mehler's custom-furniture work increased, and he began to realize his goal of full-time custom work.

After two years in the Mt. Vernon shop, Mehler moved his business to a former car dealer's building in Berea, where he remained until 2004. While building his custom furniture business, Mehler had many requests to teach. But he knew education wasn't a j ob to take lightly and his business wasn't set up for teaching. The space was great for building, said Mehler, but not for students. So, he honed his teaching skills through presentations to various woodworking guilds, and wrote arti

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Popular Woodworking June 2006